Suspense?
Isn't it fairly obvious from the outset that the bad guy will get killed and the two good guys will be rescued? Kind of ruins any sense of suspense.
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Well that pretty much applies to every Code restricted classic Hollywood movie, don´t it? Good guys win and bad guys get what´s coming to them. The suspense is in ´how´ it all will happen.
"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan
That's true! Even in today's movies, we know that the protagonists are going to succeed and that nearly always the baddies are going to get it unless they're needed for sequels.
The destination isn't as important as the journey getting there!
I'm watching it now, and this film is LOADED with suspense~unless you're so detached from humanity that you don't care about average people in a horrific situation. At least, in that time period, they're not the vapid, sex-crazed teens/wannabeteens lining up to be demolished~the type who generally populate today's films. They also aren't the action heroes who can overcome all odds with just fists and a handy arsenal of weaponry.
*** The trouble with reality is there is no background music. ***
This wasn't true in Valkyrie. You knew the protagonists would lose, but somehow, watching this film you somehow hoped they would change history.
The Hitch-hiker quite honestly offered nothing close to suspense comparatively speaking, and against The Sadist, it's a 100% failure.
These are my feelings, but could you name even one sequence that was suspenseful? It seemed like wherever there was a chance, it was ruined. Honestly, the reason I think it failed was because it was based on true events, which never seem as great as a truly embellished or made up story.